no maybe’s about it, it’s bitter! Thermometer says 20, but a lot wind blowing bits of snow onto the frontal plane! We had to cancel the coast-to-coast CD release party tonight -- snow on our end will keep us from gathering around one mic, and Mike’s sick on the Sacramento side, so we’re both under the weather! Hope to reschedule in Feb -- maybe I’ll have the whole Skype thing figured out by then. The connection seems to work fine, but I’ve got to work out a way to let us talk and play on this end but still hear Mike on the other end without feeding back. We’ve only ever done this over the phone in the past, so it wasn’t an issue.

In the meantime, since I’m snowed in I’ve been wandering about YouTube finding fun things. Here’s a great video of some early Nick Lowe, from the Brinsely Schwarz days. The TV tag says 1973. Love the 70’s Monchichi cut!

Craig, Brad, and Greg played Saturday night at the new and improved Six String Cafe in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The guys played two outstanding sets full of energy and good humor.  The audience was involved from the very beginning, and through their exuberant cheering facilitated an encore to finish out the night.  Many in the audience hung around after the show to talk to the guys and have their newly purchased CD’s signed.  Can’t wait till we can visit again!

We’re getting setup for the show at the new Six String Cafe in Raleigh, NC. Beautiful new spot since they moved, and this is our first time here. Good crowd so far, so that’s nice.

Been really bad at posting over the last few months, so it’s a new year, gotta try harder!

poster

And so… circular! The latest Tater CD menagerie is finally here! They came in on Monday, along with new posters, download cards and shiny new display units! The stickers arrived today, so the UPS guy is very aware of us at this point!

Hope to have them in all the online locations as soon as possible – they’ve already shipped off to CD Baby and Amazon, and DigStation will have it up very soon for download as well. If you want a CD copy and just can’t wait until it wanders online, contact me and I’ll work out how to get it to you. It’ll have to be check or Paypal at this point, as I don’t have a way to take credit cards outside of the usual channels (like CD Baby).

Theresa Pollak Awards for Excellence in the Arts

I don’t think this has made it to the blog yet – The Taters won this year as Best Ensemble (and I don’t think it has anything to do with our wardrobe. Although, with Greg’s shirts…?). Here’s a bit about the prize, from the Richmond magazine website:

Richmond magazine invites you to celebrate the artists whose words, fine art, music, choreography, acting, directing, film and photography enrich the cultural life of our regions. Since 1998, readers have been asked to nominate artists to the panel of selectors, made up of former honorees and arts leaders, who then choose the honorees for recognition with the Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts at our awards ceremony in October.

It was a huge surprise to us, since we had no idea we were even up for a nomination. There’s a write-up in the October issue of Richmond Magazine, which is on the stands now, and you can also read about it on the Richmondmagazine.com website. And while we’re at it, here’s a bit more about Theresa Pollak. Thanks to all who nominated us, whoever you may be!

things have been quite busy in Taterland over the last few months, and most times I clean forget to add updates! Sorry, I promise I’ll try to try harder. Or at least I’ll try.

I’m sitting in the studio now listening to final and near-final mixes on menagerie. There have been a few setbacks, but it’s still alive and kicking, just taking longer (always!) than I thought it would. I’m also working on finishing the cover art, liner notes, all the publishing stuff, etc, and working with the pressing plant to get that all setup. But all that notwithstanding, I’m hoping for a Halloween release, so keep your bony fingers crossed!

On a related note, watch for the October release of  Virginia Creepers: THE HORROR HOST TRADITION OF THE OLD DOMINION.  It’s a documentary featuring stories and clips of classic Virginia late night horror show TV shows. The Taters have a song in the soundtrack, a menagerie cut called “Wolfman Told Me Tonight”, so you’ll want to get a copy of the film ! A lot of you know the song from our shows over the years, but this is the debut of the recorded version. On an inexplicable note, the website for Virginia Creepers lists our tune as a “romantic ditty” (??), so I don’t know what to tell you about that. Not a big Valentine tune to my way of thinking but hey, it made the cut so we’re happy!

Spread a little Tater around

Think about the last time you bought something from a friend’s recommendation, or because you read a review of a book, movie, album, whatever. Chances are that review or recommendation made more of an impact on you than any “official” advertising from the manufacturer. One of the most beneficial aspects of the web is this ability to spread “word-of-mouth” recommendations across a much larger audience.

Same is true with Tater tunes. We have all sorts of people who come to see us or buy the CDs because someone told them about us, or they read a recommendation from someone. You could be a big part of spreading the word about The Taters, not only by telling your friends but also by posting reviews of our music or shows on the web. Nearly every place that sells the music online – CD Baby , iTunes , Amazon , you name it – has some way for you to post reviews and comments. It would be a great help to what we’re trying to do (merely get every single individual on the planet to hear us) if you’d add some reviews of your own. Say whatever you like, tell about your favorite song on an album, what you like about the music, etc. If you use iTunes, make a playlist that includes the Taters music and share the list so others will find it! Every single voice helps, believe me!

Just finished listening to Jim’s guitar part on “Feet Start Walking”, and it’s great. Right now suffering thru listening to Bill solo my bass & piano bits to get them all EQ’d nicely… sure sounds better when the rest of band is around it! Ah well, that’s the beauty of the studio – I can play just like me, and Bill can make me sound just like I do in my head (which is always better!).

Overall I’m loving what everyone has come out with on this. There’s been a lot of work done by everyone, and I hope it shows.

or, sounds, I guess…

We’ve had dozens of shows over the last few months, and that’s kept us out of the studio quite a lot, but I’m hoping we’re nearly wrapped up on this. 4 shows this weekend, including a very fun “Christmas in July” day to help raise money and awareness for the Central Virginia Food Bank. We got to play a whole evening of Christmas tunes, in the middle of summer. Ho ho ho! We also got to do this with our pals from Offering, so we had the benefit of Jeanine’s beautiful voice and a whole stage of very talented players – even strings & flute, so we were truly culture filled! These folks did a beautiful job on the music, and with organizing the whole thing. Chris had a relaxing 15 hour day of setting up & running the stage sound, so I know he was wiped out by the end of it! A big Tater thanks, though, for all his hard work. Mike came down from Stafford to help out for the evening, we even pressed Cole into service, and everyone’s help was needed and appreciated. The event was by all accounts a big success, and I think the Food Bank got lots of donations and exposure.

OK, back to work. I’ll try to post some of the results of the mix later this week

Just a quick posting, so I can get something up here! Here are a few videos posted by a Tater fan on YouTube. These are from a recent show we did with Willie Nelson in Richmond.

The Kiss

That’s Where I Belong

There are lots of other Tater videos from a variety of folks over at our YouTube site -- Tatervids

OK, I just noticed tonight that I have 2 entries on IMDB.com, and I think that’s a hoot! I was looking up long-time friend and “real” animator Eric Daniels after watching a movie. I noticed a film we both worked on way back in 1987 when I was living in LA and working in animation. In a pure fit of six-degrees-of-separation-post-modernism I searched my name and sure enough, I’m listed out there. Just seems funny to me!

the world just got smaller…!

Not sure if I’ve posted this at all yet, but here is a sneak peek at the cover for the new CD –

We’ve also started adding shirts & buttons with the new cover to our CafePress site, so if you haven’t been over to see those now’s as good a time as any

We’ve finished the mixing on several songs, so (dare I think it?) the end is in sight! Back in again next week to continue mixing. In the meantime, here is a clip (unmixed) from the intro to Spend a Little Time with Me, featuring Chris & Alan from the Grandsons on horns!

For Virginia folks, we’re up at the Ashland Coffee & Tea tomorrow night, Sat, May 30 starting at 8pm, so come on out and say hi. And the Grandsons are there on June 5, so go see the show and tell ‘em you heard them on a Tater track!

This was in the Richmond Times-Dispatch today:

Death of Gary Gerloff will be a loss to area music scene

JEREMY SLAYTON AND JEFF E. SCHAPIRO TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS
Published: May 26, 2009

James Gerald “Gary” Gerloff cast a large presence throughout the Richmond music community.

He was quite literally a bear of a man whose shock of wiry white hair and beard recalled the late Jerry Garcia — a likeness Mr. Gerloff, an admirer of the Grateful Dead co-founder, welcomed.

Mr. Gerloff was a talented musician, singer and songwriter in his own right, but his impact on the local music scene went deeper. He was quick to champion other musicians and deflect praise from himself to those with whom he played.

“Just an amazingly generous spirit. Such a giving and loving guy; he was always thinking of others, always willing to give credit,” said Coby Batty, a musician and friend of Mr. Gerloff.

Mr. Gerloff, who led the Gary Gerloff Band performing his own compositions as well as rock, blues and soul hits by other artists, died Saturday at his Richmond home after a brief illness. He was 58.

To those who knew Mr. Gerloff, his was a life spent helping others.

A longtime resident of Richmond, Mr. Gerloff’s philanthropic activities across Richmond were numerous. He helped launch an annual concert series to support the Positive Vibe Café, a restaurant in South Richmond with many handicapped employees.

He performed at fundraising events for the Massey Cancer Center at VCU Medical Center and was on the program committee for the Richmond Folk Festival.

“Probably at the sacrifice of his own life and maybe his family’s life, he was willing to give to one and all,” said Garth Larcen, owner of Positive Vibe Café. “Gary was one of the guys that whenever I did ask him, and I made it a point not to ask too many times because of that, he consistently always found a way to do it.”

Mr. Gerloff was a man who lived life to the fullest, said those who knew him. Batty described his friend as someone who always lived in the moment, while another local musician, Susan Greenbaum, said Mr. Gerloff was at ease with himself, which helped those around him relax in sometimes intense situations, such as recording the vocals for “Ancestor Worship,” his first-released CD.

“I think he provided other musicians a reminder to enjoy themselves, because sometimes when you play music a lot . . . you sometimes forget that you’re lucky as can be to make music and have people listen,” Greenbaum said.

Mr. Gerloff’s interests went beyond music. He was an avid baseball enthusiast and longtime season-ticket holder for the Richmond Braves. A devoted gastronome, Mr. Gerloff could often be found poolside at Granite Pool in South Richmond discussing recipes, meals and beverages in detail.

Greenbaum said Mr. Gerloff’s death is “a huge loss for the Richmond music community and a huge loss for Richmond generally, because Gary had a very warm, fuzzy presence.”

I’d echo all of that. Gary was a truly a larger-than-life character, and it was a privilege to know him and to play music together.